BY VICTOR ADAR
In many cases, individuals who delve into businesses like fashion, especially ladies, are seen to be those who either failed to get jobs or were dissatisfied, and decided to think outside the box. It is usually a sign of being a hustler, an old cliché that not so many people envy. But as fashion industry is sizzling with creativity and talent, and unemployment situation in Kenya continuing to bite, entrepreneurs are on tabs vying for a piece of the pie. Two siblings, Esther Kalekye Musa and James Mwoni, saw a gap that needed to be filled and formed an enterprise aligned to the fashion industry and named it House of Kaji.
Kalekye’s business partner and brother, Mwoni, who is only 23 years completed a 6-month private sector training and internship program under the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project (KYEP) that offered tailoring as one of its courses. That was years back in September 2013 when employment was slowing, but things did not go according to plan.
It is no surprise then that the two were inspired to venture into what they do best and are truly passionate about, the clothing industry. They scratched the ground big time. “We didn’t have enough capital,” recalls Kalekye, who cut her teeth as a journalist at the Nairobi based East Africa School of Journalism.
Apart from casual and official clothing, menswear, and formal suits, her venture is actually popular for couture evening gowns and bridesmaids’ dresses. They also design uniform and logo for companies. “We started with shoes, just locally and shipping them out. But we have branched out. We do shows as well, fashion shows.”
Despite having launched three years ago, the enterprise currently valued at Sh4 million only took off last year. Why? You may ask. The lady on the driving seat of the young venture, Kalekye, was diagnosed with thrombosis, a fatal heart condition, which meant she had to refrain from doing any physical activity for eight months as she underwent treatment. None the less, she is now back, taking baby steps to touch the sky.
House of Kaji has become popular both locally and internationally; their designs are available in the diaspora. The products, she says, are shipped to countries like the United States of America, South Africa and Hong Kong. In the USA for example, she works with Lovers Hangover Creations dealing with African products and are slowly finding a clear path into the fashion world in New York. But how many people have they employed?
“At the moment we pay people on commission, so we get the best at an affordable price. We have the ones who work on suits, gowns, knitting, and embroidery,” she says.
Ms Kalekye says that sometimes they struggle to get the right fabric forcing them to turn to second hand fabric, which she confidently says are usually as good as “new” – she goes like, “some second hand clothes are worn only ones and are still new.” The problem is getting fabric. They import. And when they fail to get what they want from the international markets, “mitumba” fabric meets the need. To do the works, their stall in town at Imenti House comes in handy. It is where the fittings and measurements are done.
Well… it takes a lot of persistence, and hard work to create diamond from its rough state.
Go-getting
It is said that hard work and diligence are essential ingredients to success. But without internal motivation you can’t go far. Kalekye says fashion is the most powerful art we have. Fashion, the trend of our time, is flying her brains. And in deed they have achieved what many entrepreneurs are still praying for.
House of Kaji’s recent milestone is its first runway show participation at Laikipia Fashion Week held at the Sportsman Arms Hotel in Nanyuki where they emerged winners.
Afterwards they had an opportunity to participate in the East Africa Fashion Week held at the Village Market Nairobi. Apart from that, they were nominated as Upcoming Womens’ Wear Designers 2015 at the Kenya Glamour Awards 2015. And to put the icing on the cake, they recently organized their first fashion show event labelled “The Masquerade Runway Ball” that was held at the Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel on 3rd October last year. This is just but a tip of the iceberg, the beginning of many more to come.
“It started as a passion. So for me I make money out of my passion. And what I would tell those who would like to go into business is, don’t’ just wake up everyday and do something. Do something you are happy about. For us the sky is definitely not the limit,” she says.
Image is everything. And people might judge you according to how you dress and look. You need to look good. You are a walking brand. House of Kaji wanted to make corporate people to understand that. It is also the originality, consistency in terms of designs and passion that makes her venture flourish.
“I have an advantage. I handle marketing side, and I think people listen well to women than men. We have big projects in the kitchen this year,” she says with that kind of, bubbly spirit that can’t be extinguished.
